The present invention relates to an improved premeasured compressed charge for use in muzzleloading and black powder firearms.
An important aspect when using a traditional muzzleloading or black powder firearm is to facilitate quick, reliable and consistent reloading of the firearm following discharge. As is conventionally known in the art, a desired volume of gun powder propellent is supplied to either the muzzle end or the breech end of the barrel of a gun, depending on the design of the firearm. During loading of a muzzleloading firearm, the charge, the sabot or patch (wad), if necessary, and the projectile, in that order, are all loaded through the discharging end of the barrel-sometimes the sabot or patch (wad) may be omitted. The contents are typically packed toward the breech end of the firearm using a ramrod to ensure a consistent loading and seating pressure of the propellant and the projectile and the seating reduces the chances of an inadvertent blow up of the barrel of the firearm because of an air gap formed between the propellant and the projectile.
As is well known in the art, the propellent was typically a loose granular gunpowder, e.g., a mixture of charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulfur. Early powders were dangerous to handle and tended to foul the bore of the firearm. That is, after one or more firings of the firearm, the user would typically have to clean the bore of the barrel using a device which scrapes or wipes the inner bore surface of the barrel. If such cleaning was not periodically performed or performed improperly, the interior bore of the barrel build-ups a layer of residue of unconsumed propellent and such residue can lead to corrosion and/or malfunctioning of the firearm and clogging of the ignition or flash channel. For a number of years, black powder was the only propellent used in muzzleloading firearms, and eventually black powder substitutes, such as those sold under the trade names PYRODEX, BLACK CANYON, CLEAN SHOT and AMERICAN PIONEER, are now commonly utilized. For at least the past 25 years, black powder and black powder substitutes have been pelletized to facilitate ease of loading of firearms.
Wherefore, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned shortcomings and drawbacks associated with the prior art propellent charges used with muzzleloading firearms.
Another object of the present invention is to design a premeasured compressed charge which has a substantially square transverse cross-section which slightly tapers or expands from a smaller dimension leading portion to a wider dimension trailing portion.
A further object of the present invention is to design a premeasured compressed charge which traps ambient air within the breech end of the barrel, following loading of the barrel with the premeasured compressed charge and a slug or bullet to be discharged by the firearm, so that the trapped air facilitates a more complete and rapid burning of the powder and thereby minimizes the amount of unburned or unconsumed particles of powder which remain in the barrel, following discharge, thereby reducing the likelihood that any unburned or unconsumed particles may later cause a malfunction of the firearm, e.g. inadvertent ignition when reloading, blockage of the flash channel or restricting loading of a projectile.
Another object of the invention is to provide a premeasured compressed charge which facilitates propagation of the flame, generated by the percussion cap or other ignition device, and assists with directing this propagated flame over the entire smaller dimension leading end wall of the premeasured compressed charge as well as along the sidewalls of the premeasured compressed charge to facilitate a faster and better ignition of the premeasured compressed charge upon discharge of the firearm, i.e. the premeasured compressed charge burns axially from the smaller dimension leading end wall or portion toward the wider dimension trailing end wall or portion as well as radially inwardly from each one of the sidewalls toward a longitudinal axis extending through the center of the premeasured compressed charge.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a premeasured compressed charge which, upon inserting the premeasured compressed charge inside an adequately sized bore of a barrel of a firearm, is designed to cause a small percentage of the charge, e.g., a fraction of a percent to about five percent or so, to be removed or shaved from the premeasured compressed charge by the barrel of the firearm so that the shaved off powder typically falls toward the breech end of the barrel. The removed or shaved powder, should fall adjacent to the breech end of the barrel to improve the flame intensity at the outlet of the flash channel, supplied by the percussion cap (or other igniting device such as a musket cap, a flint, etc.), and facilitates a more rapid burning of the premeasured compressed charge. If the side walls of the premeasured compressed charge do not taper, than a small fraction of a percent will generally not be removed or shaved from the premeasured compressed charge by the barrel of the firearm and fall toward the breech end of the barrel.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a premeasured compressed charge which will be centered and captively received within the breech end of the bore of the firearm, due to the interference fit between the premeasured compressed charge and the bore of the barrel, to minimize any lateral movement or shifting of the premeasured compressed charge once loaded within the barrel.
A further object of the present invention is to taper slightly a leading end portion of the premeasured compressed charge so that the tapered leading end portion of the premeasured compressed charge is located closely adjacent an outlet, of the flash channel, to facilitate a more reliable, quicker and complete ignition of the premeasured compressed charge and better flame propagation, e.g., to space the tapered leading end wall closer to the outlet of the flash channel than possible with prior art designs.
A still further object of the present invention is ensure complete burning of the propellent charge, following ignition but prior to discharging the projectile out the muzzle end of the firearm, to minimize the possibility of discharging any unburnt particles of the propellent charge out the muzzle end of the firearm, i.e., to not result in xe2x80x9crocketingxe2x80x9d of the premeasured compressed charge out the muzzle end of the firearm. The elimination, or minimization at the very least, of any unburnt particles, in turn, facilitates a shorter time span that the end user must wait prior to safely reloading the firearm with a further premeasured compressed charge for a subsequent firing of the firearm. The elimination or minimization of unburnt particles also ensures better accuracy and consistency when using the firearm.
Yet another object of the present invention is ensure a quicker and more complete ignition of the propellent charge to facilitate use of the premeasured compressed charge in xe2x80x9cshort barrelxe2x80x9d rifles and pistols.
Still another object of the present invention is to taper at least three of the sidewalls, and possibly all four sidewalls, of the propellent charge, from the smaller dimension leading portion to the wider dimension trailing portion.
A further object of the present invention is to increase the exposed sidewall surface area of the compressed charge to facilitate a more rapid and complete burning of the compressed charge upon discharging the firearm.
A further object of the present invention is to design a premeasured compressed charge which has a substantially square transverse cross-section which slightly tapers or expands from a smaller dimension leading portion to a wider dimension trailing portion with both portions sized to be received within the barrel without either the smaller dimension leading portion or the wider dimension trailing portion having an interference fit with the bore of the firearm.
The present invention also relates to an improved premeasured compressed charge for use with a black powder firearm having a desired caliber, the premeasured compressed charge having a leading end portion and a trailing end portion, the leading end portion having a smaller diagonal dimension than both the trailing end portion and the desired caliber of the firearm, while the trailing end portion having a larger diagonal dimension than the desired caliber of the firearm such that the leading end portion of the premeasured compressed charge is readily received within the desired caliber of the firearm while the trailing end portion must be forced into the desired caliber of the firearm; wherein the leading end portion of the premeasured compressed charge is located closely adjacent an outlet of the flash channel of the firearm, following loading of the premeasured compressed charge within the firearm, and the leading end portion facilitates better flame propagation of the flame along sidewalls of the premeasured compressed charge, generated upon detonation of an ignition device, to facilitate the more complete combustion of the premeasured compressed charge and less rocketing of the premeasured compressed charge following discharge of the projectile from the muzzle end of the firearm.
The present invention also relates to an improved premeasured compressed charge for use with a black powder firearm having a desired caliber, the premeasured compressed charge having a leading end portion and a trailing end portion, the leading end portion having a smaller diagonal dimension than both the trailing end portion and the desired caliber of the firearm, while the trailing end portion having a smaller diagonal dimension than the desired caliber of the firearm such that both the leading end portion and the trailing end portion of the premeasured compressed charge are received within the desired caliber of the firearm; wherein the leading end portion of the premeasured compressed charge is located closely adjacent an outlet of the flash channel of the firearm, following loading of the premeasured compressed charge within the firearm, and the leading end portion facilitates better flame propagation of the flame along sidewalls of the premeasured compressed charge, generated upon detonation of an ignition device, to facilitate the more complete combustion of the premeasured compressed charge and less rocketing of the premeasured compressed charge following discharge of the projectile from the muzzle end of the firearm.
In the following description and the appended claims, the term xe2x80x9cignition devicexe2x80x9d is used to generally indicate one of a percussion cap, a musket cap, a flint, etc., or some other discharging or igniting device for a muzzleloader or a black powder firearm.